Collar & Button Band of Top-Down Crocheted CardiganAfter seeing all of the great sweaters that my friends Ana and Ellene knit, along with inspiration from many of my WeHo SnBr's, I finally just bit the bullet and decided to crochet a cardigan for myself. Since I'm a plus-size person, it's really a chore to knit and/or crochet yards and yards for a sweater. I always lose interest in a project if it's too laborious.
Sleeve and Bottom of CardiganI'm a much faster crocheter than I am a knitter, so I researched top-down sweaters on the web. I've KNIT lots of top-down baby sweaters and they always turned out great. I only found a few links to top-down CROCHET patterns. The best one came from crochetme.com. It's called "Sweet," designed by Amy O'Neill Houck. I used Amy's basic pattern, but modified it for a cardigan. Then, I added a collar, button band and extended the sleeves.
Love the colors of this yarn!I crocheted the sweater out of Canon acrylic yarn called Simply Soft Shadows, Autumn. I used a size "I" crochet hook. Instead of just double-crocheting every row, I alternated two rows of double crochet with two rows of crossed double crochet stitches. The sweater worked up quickly. It's warm and cozy. I may have over-blocked it slightly to get a drape from the yarn, but all in all, I'm pleased with this project and will crochet it again using a more expensive yarn.
I'll wear the cardigan tonight at the chilly Original Farmers Market for our weekly WeHo SnB.
Really beautiful sweater! I wish I could crochet well, its so much faster than knitting, sigh.
ReplyDeleteEllen, This is Fabulous! Love the colors and the alternating open work. Great job!
ReplyDeleteThe sweater is fantastic--great job! I love your cardigan version and the button band and collar are awesome--I'd love to see a picture of it on you!
ReplyDeleteIt is GORGEOUS!! You always manage to make the perfect yarn selection for your projects, the way the colors work on that cardi are lovely!
ReplyDeleteTotally gorgeous. Dang, you're good. First ever sweater, you change it up and redo (redux?) it, and make it look spectacular. I bow to your crochetting prowess.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I do not think I'm gonna make it to SnB tonite, so, for me and all the other interested folk, PLEEEEEEEZE take pic with it on. I bet the colors look beautiful on you.
Ellen - This is so you! I love the colorway, the crossed double crochet stitches and your finishing touches.
ReplyDeleteKudos on a fab sweater!
Ellen your cardigan is fantastic! I love that you alternated rows of dc and cross dc, gives it great texture. The collar is adorable!
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ReplyDeleteWow! It is beautiful! Love the colors, love the collar I LOVE IT!
ReplyDeleteI can hardly wait to see it on you.
Sorry I missed you last night maybe next week.
Your Top Down Crochet Cardigan is lovely, and using dc and cross dc stitches gives the cardigan such texture.. the colorway is perfect... you did a fantastic job.
ReplyDeleteWhat a gorgeous colorway! Amy is a wonderful designer!
ReplyDeleteWow!! Thanks for the compliments, everbody.
ReplyDeleteI'm honored that so many of you talented artists like my sweater. There's just something about choosing the right yarn. But, ALL yarn is the right yarn, isn't it?!??
Excellent! This puts me in the mood to crochet a sweater to. Nice cheerful colours.
ReplyDeleteI love your sweater! Can you post more details about how you did it? i.e. the collar/sleeves/how did you get the colors to match so well? Thanks! Kate/Massachusetts
ReplyDeleteThis is Great work.Cardigan Sweatshirt
ReplyDeleteare evolving to modern fashion which is cool.